To approach humpback whales and to observe them while diving is an unbelievable experience. One must be extremely calm if you want the whale to allow you to approach. ¡°Dormeuse¡± (Sleeper), as his name indicates was always sleeping motionless at a depth of 20 meters. Thanks to the water clarity twenty meters (sixty feet) seemed truly too close. After about twenty minutes this whale rose to the surface to breathe and at the same time came over to take a look at me. The whale seemed to be saying to itself "what is this strange animal that was hanging over me while I was having a siesta?"

"Rectangle" was the largest of this group of whales and often passed its time playing in the waves near the reef. Rectangle was often accompanied by ¡°Dugong,¡± a young male with an enormous belly. One day a new whale arrived wih her calf which could not have been more than a week old. Of course we keep a respectful distance from the new arrivals. We never followed the pair. But each day the mother became more and more accustomed to my presence. At the end of several days of patience, the mother let me approach and finding myself so close to these animals was an extraordinary moment. I was only a few a few meters from the little one who surfaced often to breathe while the mother was resting ten meters below. In about a month the calf will be strong enough to follow its mother on the long journey back to the Antarctic.